A 45-year-old local Trinamool Congress leader, Mintu Sheikh, was killed by unidentified goons in a village in East Burdwan district’s Ketugram late on Sunday night, hours before the fourth phase election began on Monday morning.

Although Trinamool blamed the CPM, Mintu’s wife initially alleged that the factional feud in her husband’s party was responsible for his murder. She, however, toed the party line in her police complaint later.

A source said Mintu, a Trinamool booth president and core committee member of the local gram panchayat, was attacked by a group of armed goons while he was returning home at Chenchuri village in Ketugram. The goons hacked him with sharp weapons and later threw crude bombs at him to ensure his death.

Police on Monday arrested two persons — civic volunteer Bhulon Sheikh and toto driver Shamsur Sheikh — in connection with the murder of the Trinamool leader. Both are local residents.

“The two were produced today (Monday) before the Katwa subdivisional court that sent the duo in police custody for seven days,” said a police officer.

Though Ketugram is located in the East Burdwan district, the Assembly segment is part of the Bolpur Lok Sabha constituency that voted on Monday in the fourth phase of the ongoing general election.

Trinamool leaders accused the CPM of killing their
party leader. Bengal’s ruling party also wrote on its official social media handle that Mintu was “hacked and bombed to death by the CPM harmads (goons).”

“Mintu was one of our active party workers and a local leader. The CPM-backed goons who had targeted him for the past few months killed him brutally. We demand police to take stringent action against those involved in this brutality,” said Rabindranath Chatterjee, Trinamool’s East Burdwan district president.

However, the murder just hours before the area went to the polls on Monday embarrassed Trinamool as the victim’s wife Tuhina Khatun claimed her husband was killed because of Trinamool’s factional feud.

“My husband was killed by goons who were hired by local leaders. This is because of TMC’s factional feud,” she told reporters. Later, however, in the complaint lodged with Ketugram police, she said her husband was killed by CPM-backed goons.

CPM leaders denied Trinamool's charge. They claimed there should be no question of their party’s involvement as the victim’s wife already cleared the air.

“We don’t believe in violence. The person was killed by his party colleagues and his wife endorsed it,” said CPM leader Achinta Mallik.